Real Housewives

Things got fiery last night in the OC. Honestly, I'm not even sure how much more I want to hear about this whole fake cancer storyline. It's been going on for five episodes straight now, but it doesn't look like it's going to be resolved anytime soon. I just wish there was more going on with all the other 'Wives to balance it out. When the possibility of Brooks faking his cancer is the only thing we talk about for an hour, it gets exhausting. But here goes...

We start out at Splashes Bar inside the Surf and Sand Resort, where Heather, Meghan and Shannon are meeting for dinner and drinks. Meghan and Jimmy just got back from a romantic trip for two and while they were gone, Hayley decided to throw a massive party. Her punishment? Being grounded for one day before her mom let her go to the Edmonds' desert house. However, Meghan's lack of authority as a stepmom gets put to rest in favor of more important things. Namely, Shannon's upcoming Aries-themed party to celebrate the Year of the Ram. It's the perfect time to celebrate since Shannon, Vicki, Eddie and Christian are all Aries. Shannon's invited all the girls AND their significant others - including Brooks. The conversation turns to whether Brooks will even come. Is he worried that everyone's talking about him?

Meghan has some interesting tidbits of information about the big Brooks cancer mystery. Apparently Miss 30-Year-Old has been playing private detective and informs the girls that she called Brooks' doctor as a referral pretending to have cancer. Wait WHAT? Let me repeat: Meghan King Edmonds called Brooks' doctor pretending to have cancer so she could do some digging. Wow. Just wow. The bigger bombshell? According to the secretary she talked to, Brooks' doctor doesn't deal with cancer at all. This is yet another giant red flag surrounding the validity of Brooks' story. Shannon and Heather are officially confused, pointing out that every time they turn around they're hearing something new that makes the situation murkier. Everyone's still wondering why Brooks hasn't seen Shannon's doctor, a world-renowned physician specializing in lymphoma. According to Brooks, he was on the way to meet this doctor after Shannon got him an appointment, but got sidelined by two flat tires. Hmm...another red flag. With so many people asking her, when Shannon explains in her interview that when she doesn't have an answer, it gives her pause. She wants to know why. Heather points out that the whole thing is really none of their business, but with all the questions flying around, the cast has made it their business. Eventually, the truth is bound to come out.

Across town, Tamra is helping her mom get ready for a blind date. Sandy's living with Tamra and Eddie now, having recently broken up with her boyfriend of three years. To get her out of her room, Tamra's set her mom up with a matchmaker and enlisted her personal makeup artist to help Sandy get ready for her date. First thing's first though: Tamra is not OK with her mom's choice of a low-cut zebra print top. According to her daughter, Sandy should just put a sign across her head that says "come f*** me." Tamra has recruited Ryan to help her chaperone, and the duo take Sandy to Casa Ranchero to meet her blind date Marty. As the mother and son watch the date from a table across the restaurant, Tamra admits to Ryan that she never told Eddie about the financial help she was giving him to move back to the OC. Ryan doesn't see what the big deal is - Eddie's not his dad and was a family issue. However, Tamra doesn't want Ryan's finances to come between her and Eddie and asks Ryan whether he really wants to get married. Ryan admits that when he first met Sarah, things moved too quickly. When it was just the two of them, things were great, but add in three girls and a pregnancy and the situation gets a little more complicated. Tamra starts preaching her newfound love of Jesus and suggest Ryan go to church for some assistance from the big man upstairs.

Later that night, all the women are getting ready to celebrate at Shannon's big Aries party. However, none of them can seem to escape the drama that's brewing on the horizon. Vicki explains via confessional that she's bringing Brooks to the party, but never told him about her big argument with Briana in Oklahoma. From her perspective, the less Brooks knows, the better. After all, it's conflict that will never resolve itself. At the Edmonds' Meghan is giving Jimmy "limited information" about the snooping that she's been doing in order to give him plausible deniability, while Shannon is a bundle of nerves waiting for everyone to arrive at her house. Shannon explains to David that she wishes Vicki and Brooks would do something to shut the story down. She would never accuse a friend, but at the same time it's getting to the point where she wants to know the truth just as much as everyone else does.

Shannon's party looks absolutely incredible, complete with Aries-tinis, Chinese lanterns everywhere and a giant dragon in the pool. Everything is screaming "LET'S HAVE FUN!" All the women and their guys arrive except Vicki and Brooks, and Meghan immediately starts filling the girls in on the further developments in her unlicensed P.I. activities. Apparently, she found a blog online that a couple of Brooks' ex-girlfriends had commented on saying that he had faked cancer in the past. (Red flag #3 in this episode for those keeping track at home.) Miraculously, one of the women lives in the same small town in Mississippi where Meghan has a good friend from college, so of course Meghan managed to get ahold of this ex-girlfriend's phone number and attempt contact. Again...WHAT? The newbie is majorly overstepping her boundaries with all this sleuthing and Vicki is not going to be a happy camper about it. The woman confirmed that she had dated Brooks in the past, and then ran to Brooks to tell him Meghan was snooping. Uh oh, Miss 30-Year-Old, you're in trouble now. If Meghan thinks she's already felt the wrath of Vicki, she has another thing coming to her...

Eventually, Vicki and Brooks arrive at the party and the gossiping group immediately disperses. It's not like they can pretend they weren't just talking about the situation. Determined to clear the air, Brooks asks Meghan and Jimmy if he and Vicki can have a word with them inside. Once the couples sit down, Brooks begins questioning Meghan's motivation for digging into his life and background and claiming that he's faking his cancer. Vicki finds the behavior "stalker-ish" and wonders if she needs to get a restraining order against this girl. Meghan claims she never said Brooks was faking his cancer, just that there were significant holes in his story. Meghan sees herself as a lover of knowledge and believes that knowledge is power. If there are question marks anywhere, she will seek answers - especially if someone (like Vicki) says she can't have them. Meghan's perception of herself as a crusader for truth is equal parts amusing and disturbing. Calm down, girl! Vicki says that if Meghan's so worried about finding a cure for cancer, she should go back to school and become an oncologist, which was easily the funniest line of the night. Even when she's furious, Vicki Gunvalson makes me laugh.

The newbie then turns the line of questioning back onto Brooks, demanding to know if he told Tamra that Jimmy had said their marriage had been difficult for two out of the four months they'd been married. Brooks denies this, saying he never talks to Tamra and tells Meghan to "consider the source." Meghan takes this to mean that Brooks is saying Tamra has no credibility and immediately runs to Tamra following the conversation to repeat the "consider the source" dig. Naturally, this sets Tamra off as she sees herself as having been one of Brooks' biggest supporters this year, and Jimmy orders Meghan to stop. Just stop. It really is getting out of hand at this point.

A raging Tamra races across the party in search of Brooks, insistent on confronting him about the "consider the source" comment. She demands to know what he meant by it and Brooks immediately starts backpedaling, claiming he didn't mean anything by it. Uh huh...sure you didn't Brooks. Tamra's officially lost her cool and Vicki tries to calm the situation, telling her BFF she's acting like a fool. Keep in mind that Vicki was the one who told Tamra what Jimmy supposedly said, not Brooks. With Brooks continuing to feign innocence, saying "consider the source" means whatever Tamra wants it to mean, Tamra demands that he give a straight answer for once. Instead, Brooks walks away from the conversation as Vicki calls Tamra's loyalty into question, wondering whose side her bestie is on this time. However, Tamra isn't going to be placated, saying Brooks shouldn't screw over someone who has supported him. Vicki insists that this situation isn't about Tamra at all, it's about Meghan and Jimmy, but Tamra walks away with a "this is f***ing bulls***!"

And with that, we're left with a cliffhanger and have to wait until next week to see how the explosive Aries party ends...